The Centre has given a 15-month extension in benefit of interest subsidy of Rs 2.60 lakh on home loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for middle-income group (MIG) beneficiaries beyond December, a top official said on Friday.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his announcement last year, had made applicable the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under PMAY (Urban) to the MIGs till the end of December 2017.

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That period has now been extended by another 15 months, Mishra said while addressing a two-day ‘Real Estate and Infrastructure Investors Summit’ organised by NAREDCO here today.

Under the CLSS, MIG beneficiaries with annual income above Rs.600,000 and up to Rs.12 lakh were entitled to an interest subsidy of four per cent on a 20-year loan component of Rs.900,000.

Those with incomes above Rs.12 lakh and up to Rs.18 lakh would get interest subsidy of three per cent.

Mishra also invited private investors to invest in affordable housing promoted by the government in a big way with incentives and concessions to achieve the ‘Housing for All’ targets in urban centres by 2022.

Later, Mishra met a 30-member NAREDCO (National Real Estate Development Council) delegation to discuss their various problems, especially how the Goods and Services Tax and other taxes account for over one third of the cost of residential properties, which he promised to address in all sincerity.

The difficulties pertain to anomalies in GST rates for under-construction and completed housing projects, higher stamp duties kept outside GST purview, scarcity of land, delays in grant of construction permits, lack of coordination among municipal agencies, Reserve Bank of India’s high-risk weightage for lending to realty sector despite RERA coming into force and insufficient availability of bank finances though the sector accounts for the lowest Non-Productive Assets.

Addressing the summit on Thursday, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri urged NAREDCO to discuss all issues with Mishra to give a fillip to affordable housing in the country.